Complementary and alternative therapies are becoming more common in the US for the treatment of a variety of ailments. These include the practices of energy field therapies such as Healing Touch or Reiki. However, there is still much controversy if and by which mechanism these therapeutic modalities provide benefit. The mental ability of a being, whether conscious or not, to influence physical parameters especially those linked to stress and inflammatory pathways has become more evident in recent years. Healing Touch therapy is based on the principle that bioenergy channels or fields are blocked in subjects with disease. Clearance or opening of these fields by the Healing Touch practitioner opens these fields resulting in a health promoting state for the subject. However, client acknowledgement of therapy is a prerequisite for treatment. Thus, it is difficult to scientifically assess the contribution of the subject to outcome of the therapy. Through the use of animal models, it is possible to eliminate the variable that clues to the beliefs of the practitioner can be transmitted to the subject. In this proposal, we will test the hypothesis that trained practitioners of Healing Touch can promote beneficial immune responses (anti-tumor) while reducing diseases of immunity (in these experiments we will use Graft versus Host Disease). This hypothesis will be tested in the following specific aims. In the first specific aim, we will determine the limits of Healing Touch to reduce tumor growth and symptoms of graft vs. Host disease in murine models. The effect on immune parameters will also be assessed. We will then determine the amount of treatment that is needed to result in statistically significant differences in outcome. In the second specific aim, we will test the ability of the practitioners vs. trained animal caretakers to make determination of perturbations in health status. This aim will question the ability of the trained Healing Touch practitioners to `sense' blocked energy fields compared to skilled observation of clinical parameters used to judge animal health. These studies will be used to develop a research and training program for graduate nursing students to learn biomedical and qualitative research techniques, and to develop preliminary data for additional program applications. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Complementary and alternative therapies are becoming more common in the US for the treatment of a variety of ailments. These include the practices of energy field therapies such as Healing Touch or Reiki. However, there is a lack of rigorous scientific assessment of the proposed mechanisms of these treatment strategies. This proposal will test Healing Touch therapy in established experimental murine models of cancer and graft-versus-host disease to determine the efficacy of these treatments and to test the hypothesis that disease results in blocked energy channels that can be sensed by the trained practitioner. These studies will be used to develop a research and training program for graduate nursing students to learn biomedical research techniques, and to develop preliminary data for additional program applications. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]